Get The Gear! Winter Outer Shell

Grey doesn't get enough credit. People think it's too middling, lacks flash or, in the case of a snowboarding jacket, doesn't show enough of their personality on the slopes. For someone like me, though, who values pure functionality more than catwalk-style pizzazz, and who prefers to let his slopestyle (picture off-balance, arms flailing) do the talking, grey can be a very good thing, if only because nobody else seems to want it.

Take, for example, Patagonia's Primo Jacket, a technically superior, 3-layer recycled nylon shell that features waterproof/breathable GORE-TEX® Performance Shell and a Deluge® DWR (durable water repellent) to keep riders toasty and dry in the coldest (and, yes, greyest) of weather. It's got the science to back it up, it's stylish and has thoughtful additions like an iPod/iPhone pocket with a headphone cable pull-through, microfleece inserts to keep your chin from chafing when you're fully zipped and a patented Touch Point System that allows you to fine-tune the hood to maintain peripheral vision on the blow-high-hell days. That's probably why it retails for $500.

But, again, nobody likes grey (Portlanders and Seattleites not included). So now, that color is mostly what's left from winter 2011-12, and it's being sold at a fraction of the retail cost. How's that for stoke?

MSRP: $499

Sale Price: $329 (34% off)

Get it on sale at Moosejaw.com.

And for bigger guys, who want an even deeper deal on a Patagonia jacket, check out the Primo's burlier brother, Primo Down, which is currently on sale (in sizes L and XL) at Patagonia for $299.50 (MSRP $599)!